Thursday, July 3, 2014

If tensions should spiral out of control, here's what Moscow should be concerned about.

When it comes to a potential war between NATO and Russia over the Ukraine or some other hotspot, everyone's attention is focused on the capabilities of U.S. versus Russian weapons. The U.S. is only one member of NATO, and it happens to be one of the members that isn't even on the European continent. Should NATO and Russia come to blows, it is certain that European forces will go into battle alongside--perhaps--American troops.

If this scenario happens, here are five NATO weapons Russia should fear:

Britain's Challenger 2 tank:

Backbone of the UK's tank force, the Challenger 2 would be in the forefront should Britain commit heavy armor to a European conflict against Russia.

The Challenger 2 is heavily protected with Dorchester (another name for Chobham armor) and armed with a 120-millimeter cannon. It has an off-road speed of about 25 miles per hour.

Given that the most advanced tanks in the world haven't really faced each other (the First Gulf War was 25 years ago, and even Israel hasn't fought a tank battle against Russian-made armor in more than 30 years), predicting how a Challenger 2 would fare against Russian tanks would be conjecture. Weighing in at 63 tons, the Challenger 2 is certainly heavier than the various models of the 40- to 50-ton T-72s that Russia fields, including the T-72B3 and the T-90.

What this means in terms of combat performance is unclear. What is clear that should British and Russian forces come to blows, Russia would be facing a well-armed, well-armored and sophisticated main battle tank.

The 1,500-ton Type 212 has an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system that uses hydrogen-oxygen Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cells, which enable the sub to remain submerged for long periods. While German U-boat in World War II moved at a crawl while submerged, the Type 212 travels underwater at a remarkable 20 knots.

The Type 212 is armed with wire-guided DM2A4 torpedoes, as well as WASS 184 and Blackshark torpedoes. It is scheduled to be equipped with IDAS missiles, fired from the sub's torpedo tubes that can hit air, land or sea targets.

It remains to be seen how much effect German subs would have on a conflict with Russia: Russia's Crimea and Ukraine shows of force have been more toward the Black Sea than the Baltic. But should Russia be tempted to go after the Baltic States or Poland, and use its navy in the process, the Type 212s would be a force to be reckoned with.

Eurofighter Typhoon

Comparisons of NATO and Russian airpower inevitably degenerate into "my F-22 is better than your Su-35." However, since only the U.S. uses the F-22, it seems more probable that Russian pilots would be facing Typhoons instead of Raptors.

The Typhoon is used by the German and British air forces, which are the NATO members more likely to encounter the Russians in Eastern Europe, and the Italian and Spanish air forces, which are not. Though it is has some stealth features, the Typhoon is more of a dogfighter than the F-22.

Armed with a 27-millimeter cannon and a variety of missiles, including the Sidewinder, AMRAAM and Meteor for air-to-air combat and Taurus and Storm Shadow for air-to-ground targets, the Eurofighter should prove a capable opponent. Pitting it against highly maneuverable Russian fighters such as the Su-35 would make for an interesting dogfight.

Eurocopter Tiger

Smaller than the U.S. and British AH-64 Apache and about half the weight, the Eurocopter Tiger is a Franco-German project that entered service in 1991. It is used by France, Germany and Italy as well as Australia.

With a speed of about 181 miles per hour, various versions of the Tiger are armed with Hellfire, Spike, PARS 3 and HOT 3 anti-tank missiles, Mistral air-to-air missiles, and air-to-ground rockets.

The Tiger has seen limited combat during French and German operations in Afghanistan and Libya. But should hostilities erupt between NATO and Russia, the Tiger will be stalking Russian tanks.

Israel's Spike Missile

Why is an Israeli weapon on a list of deadly NATO hardware? Because the Spike is used by numerous NATO members, including Belgium, Britain, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.

The 31-pound Spike is a fiber-optic wire-guided anti-tank missile with a tandem warhead that uses two shaped charges to first detonate a tank's reactive armor, and then penetrate the vehicle's own armor. Available in short, medium and long-range and extended range versions, the various Spikes can hit targets at ranges from 800 meters to 8 kilometers.

The Russians have had much experience in pitting their tanks against Israeli weapons, usually with unfavorable results. A NATO-Russia conflict would test whether this still holds true.

Usually the size and the purpose. The period of time sometimes distinguishes the name.

Modern navy combat ships are generally divided into seven main categories. The categories are: Aircraft Carriers, Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers, Frigates, Submarines, and Amphibious assault ships. There are also support and auxiliary ships, including the minesweeper, patrol boat, and tender. During the age of sail, the ship categories were divided into the ship of the line, frigate, and sloop-of-war.

Frigate is a name which has been used for several distinct types of warships at different times. It has referred to a variety of ship roles and sizes. From the 18th century, it referred to a ship smaller and faster than a ship-of-the-line, used for patrolling and escort work rather than fighting fleet actions. In modern military terminology, the definition of a frigate is a warship intended to protect other warships and merchant marine ships and as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) combatants for amphibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups, and merchant convoys.

A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, smaller than a frigate but larger than a coastal patrol craft.

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft).

A cruiser (From Dutch Kruiser, "something that crosses") is a classification of large warship. Historically they were generally considered the smallest ships capable of independent operations — destroyers usually requiring outside support such as tenders — but in modern parlance this difference has disappeared. In modern warfare the cruiser has virtually disappeared, supplanted in all roles by the destroyer.

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft).

At the beginning of the 21st century, destroyers are the heaviest surface combatant vessels in general use, with only four nations (the United States, Russia, France and Peru) operating cruisers and none operating battleships.[1] Modern destroyers are equivalent in tonnage but drastically superior in firepower to cruisers of the World War II era, capable of carrying nuclear missiles able to destroy cities in a very small volley.

Battleship was the name given to the most powerfully gun-armed and most heavily armored classes of warships built between the 15th and 20th centuries. Battleships evolved from northern European cogs, and included carracks and galleons in the 16th Century, ships of the line in the 17th and 18th centuries, broadside ironclads and Pre-Dreadnoughts in the 19th century, and Dreadnoughts in the 20th Century.

For over 300 years battleships ruled the waves, allowing nations such as Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, France and the United Kingdom to create and maintain trade-based overseas empires and restrain their rivals. During World War II (1939-45) they were superseded as the deciding factor at sea by aircraft carriers.Source

It has come to the notice of the Reserve Bank of India today that a fake website has been created at http://www.rbi-inonline.org/savings.html by some unknown persons offering various banking facilities and asking members of public to apply on-line for opening “RBI Savings Account”.

The Reserve Bank clarifies that as India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India does not offer services offered by commercial banks, such as, savings bank account, current bank account or credit cards. As such, the question of the Reserve Bank offering online banking services, as is indicated on the fake site, does not arise. The Reserve Bank has cautioned members of public not to fall prey to spurious offers made by the fake website. The Reserve Bank has further cautioned members of public that applying on line on that website could result in compromising one’s own crucial personal information, that may be misused to cause financial and other loss to them.

Members of public may visit the official website of RBI at rbi.org.in and see press releases issued earlier which are made available as scrolling headlines for more information about various kinds of fictitious offers of huge moneys sent in the name of the Reserve Bank or its Governor and other senior officials and what to do in case of receiving such offers.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

After all the fuzz around it Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant(KNPP) has started generating power. As of now 500MW generation process started and by end of October 1000MW will be generated by the plant. According Union Minister V Narayanasamy the first unit will be added to southern grid. This is really good news for power starving Tamil Nadu as more than 50% of generated power will be allotted to TN.

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Under Construction

We have been listening news about KNPP that many NGO’s opposing the KNP Plant citing security concerns over Nuke plant. After Fukushima Disaster in 2011 some NGO’s started protesting against KNPP saying the same will be happen with the kudankulam plant, even after many scientists have checked the plant for flaws and they said there is no need to concern about safety of the plant, the protests continued. There also a rumor that these NGO’s are funded by western countries who are against Indo-Rus Bond.

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Protest

After all these protests and campaigns thanks to Supreme Court of India for giving a green signal to Kudankulam plant. After the approval from SC, NPCIL along with AEB has accelerated the commissioning of KNPP. Soon southern grid will have a jolt of 1000MW power form KNPP. It’s time to say HIP HIP HURRAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finished Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

Union Minister V Narayanasamy also said that there is another Nuke plant Jaitpur, Maharashtra is in discussions with France and soon we may hear good news on that plant also. So more Nuke plants to our country …. This will help us depending on Coal for Power generation. Coal plants will emit more carbon pollution which will affect our health